Update: South Mississippi placed on Winter Storm Watch, with ‘heavy snowfall possible’
The National Weather Service placed large parts of South Mississippi under a Winter Storm Watch early Saturday morning, including Hancock, Harrison, Jackson and Pearl River counties.
In issuing the watch, the weather service said heavy snowfall is possible over the northern half of South Mississippi and heavy mixed precipitation possible over the southern half of the area. The possibility of total snow accumulations between 4 and 8 inches exists along and north of the Interstate 10, and 2 to 6 inches south of this line. Ice accumulations of less than 1/4-inch north of I-10 and around a 1/4-inch to the south are also possible.
Conditions could begin to deteriorate late Monday night, the NWS said, with roads, and especially bridges and overpasses, likely becoming slick and hazardous. Additionally, the hazardous conditions could affect the Tuesday morning and evening commutes. Hazardous driving conditions may last into or through Wednesday as well since all of the wintry precipitation that falls Tuesday may not melt through the day Wednesday.
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The chance of snow next week in South Mississippi is increasing, but forecasters said Friday it was too soon to worry because no one yet knows if it will actually happen.
“Right now, we don’t want to get everybody either excited or upset about the snow,” said Hannah Lisney, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Slidell. “Probabilities are increasing, but we don’t want to jump the gun just yet.”
What forecasters are sure of is the cold. From Sunday night through early Wednesday, the region could plunge into the most frigid temperatures so far this winter. Overnight lows Sunday and Monday may drop to 25 degrees.
The forecast for snow is becoming slowly clearer. By Friday, the chance for freezing rain had dropped and the chance of snow had risen. There was a 30 to 40 percent chance of more than an inch of snow anywhere from New Orleans to McComb as of Friday, Lisney said. She said Hancock County had a 30 percent chance of snow. The rest of the Coast had a 20 percent chance. But she added the numbers could change before next week.
It is also still possible that the cold air could push rain over the Gulf of Mexico, which would leave the Coast freezing but dry.
Forecasters said residents should be more immediately focused on preparing to wrap pipes and drip faucets, rather than worrying about snow. Lisney encouraged people to finish grocery shopping by Sunday afternoon, before the worst of the cold invades the region.
Any snow next week would be the first South Mississippi has seen in several years. Lisney said the last time it snowed was December 2017, when the National Weather Service recorded 1.5 inches in Wiggins and 4 inches in Poplarville.
Any possible snow could begin late Monday and would probably end by early Wednesday, Lisney said. She said forecasters would have clearer answers on the question of snow by Monday morning.
This story was originally published January 17, 2025 at 11:55 AM.